State Environmental Conservation Department, Sabah, Malaysia A report on the State of the Environment in Sabah, 2000 A Paper Presented at the Environmental Convention held in Kuching, Sarawak, 29-30 June 2000 Eric Juin, Yabi Yangkat & Carsten Hollaender Laugesen State Environmental Conservation Department, Sabah, Malaysia The State of the Environment in Sabah, 2000 A Paper Presented at the Environmental Convention held in Kuching, Sarawak, 29-30 June 2000 Eric Juin, Yabi Yangkat & Carsten Hollaender Laugesen Background Paper no.11 Issue no. 1 Date of issue June 2000 Prepared Eric Juin, Yabi Yangkat, Carsten Hollaender Laugesen Checked Approved The State of the Environment in Sabah 1 Abbreviations BOD Biological Oxygen Demand DANCED Danish Coorperation for Environment and Development DO Dissolved Oxygen GDP Gross Domestic Products GIS Geographical Information Systems MOSTE Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment RM Ringgit Malaysian TSS Total Suspended Solids WRI World Research Institute The State of the Environment in Sabah 2 Table of Contents 1 Introduction 3 1.1 This report 3 2 State of the Environment in Sabah 5 2.1 The inland waters 5 2.2 The marine environment 8 2.3 Biodiversity 11 2.4 The air 12 3 Society’s impact on the environment 14 3.1 Population 14 3.2 Socio-economic development 15 3.3 Land Use 16 3.4 Urbanisation 20 3.5 Forestry 21 3.6 Agriculture 23 3.7 Tourism 25 3.8 Fisheries 26 4 Environmental Indicators 28 5 References 30 The State of the Environment in Sabah 3 1 Introduction Sabah commonly known as the Land Below The Wind has a population of about two million and a total land area of 7.362 million hectares. The State is divided into 24 administrative units comprising one city (Kota Kinabalu), two municipal councils (Sandakan and Tawau), one town board (Kudat) and 20 district councils. Landmarks Realizing the importance of environmental conservation and protection in the early 1970s, the State Government established an Environment Unit under the purview of the then Ministry of Manpower and Environmental Development in 1976. In 1987, the enforcement of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 was extended to Sabah and administered by the Federal Department of Environ- ment. In 1991, Sabah commissioned World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia to prepare Sabah Conservation Strategy with funding from the United Nations Development Programme. The report was completed in April 1992 and ap- proved by the State Government in 1995 as guideline in planning. In 1995, Sa- bah Biodiversity Conservation Project was initiated under the Danish Coopera- tion for Environment and Development (DANCED) funding, with the purpose to improve and sustain biological resources. Other landmarks include the Tourism Master Plan that provided the State with a nature-based source of income and the Shoreline Management Plan, 1998 that was conducted and endorsed in order to avoid ribbon develop- ments along the West Coast of Sabah. Finally was the Environmental Con- servation Department established in 1998, and the Capacity Building of the Environmental Conservation Department Project (DANCED) initiated in 1999. 1.1 This report This report on the State of the Environment 2000 concerns the Sabah envi- ronment and the Sabah society. One of the main aims of the report has been to emphasize the interplay between environment and society. On one hand, we have an environment and nature that is controlled by a number of natural laws. On the other hand, we have a society that is controlled by a number of economic, social and political conditions. The State of the Environment in Sabah 4 A description of the state of the environment may begin in the environment – in the aquatic environment, the terrestrial environment, the atmospheric environment – and draw connections to the various societal activities that are the cause of the problems. Or it may begin in society – in agriculture, industry, aquaculture, forestry, households, transports, and cities – and then draw connections to the environment. In this report an attempt is made to synthesize these two approaches. The aim is high (and the task huge), and has only partially been achieved. How- ever, this report should be seen as the Environmental Conservation Depart- ments initial attempt to produce an integrated overview of the environ- mental status in Sabah. The attempt will be continued in the coming year through the Capacity Building of the Environmental Conservation Depart- ment Project and the development of an Environmental Indicator Report for Sabah. Chapter 2 in this Report is based on the environmental status and problems – i.e. the state of the environment – and draws connections to the societal activities. Conversely, chapter 3 is based on the society - divided in a num- ber of themes and sectors - and describes the relationships between the technological and economical development and the resultants pressures on nature and the environment. Chapter 4 outlines an upcoming attempt by the Environmental Conservation Department to develop an environmental indicator system for Sabah, while chapter 5 lists the references used for the preparation of the present report. The State of the Environment in Sabah 5 2 State of the Environment in Sabah The following sections describe in brief the environmental status concerning the different environmental medias: The inland and marine waters, the biodi- versity (flora and fauna), and the air. The descriptions are based on available data collected by the Environmental Conservation Department. 2.1 The inland waters Water is a vital resource, which makes possible the survival of all living things. The availability of water often determines the rate of economic development and also set its limit. Rivers, streams, lakes, man-made reservoirs, underground aquifers and wetlands constitute the inland water resources, which are essential for agriculture, industry, human settlements and energy production. Inland waters are being polluted by both point and non-point sources of pollu- tion. Industries, including mining and communities, are major point sources of pollution. Forestry and agricultural run-off, which contains fertilizers, pesti- cides and eroded soils, are the major non-point sources of pollution. Silt from eroded soil is contributed primarily by deforested hill areas, sloping agricultural land and poorly designed roads and constructions. 2.1.1 Surface Water Introduction Surface water is one of the major sources of freshwater supply in the State. Surface water can be classified as either flowing water such as rivers and streams, or standing water such as lakes and ponds including man-made reser- voirs. There are altogether about 19 river basins in Sabah. Of these, the Kina- batangan river basin on the East Coast is the largest covering an area of about 15,385 sq. km. The Padas river basin on the West Coast covers an area of about 8,726 km2. Most of the other basins cover comparatively smaller areas. Water quality in both flowing and standing water can be determined by measur- ing parameters such as the concentration of Dissolved Oxygen (DO), the Bio- logical Oxygen Demand (BOD), the Total Suspended Solids (TSS), pH and the Faecal Coliform Bacteria count. Water is considered polluted if the water sys- tem is overloaded with oxygen demanding wastes and when the bacterial activi- ties cause the reduction of DO to a level low enough to kill some species of aquatic organisms. The State of the Environment in Sabah 6 Impacts and Status Surface water quality in Sabah is adversely affected by various types of pollutants that enter water bodies. Run-off from Land-use Activities. The greatest pollution problem in most river basins in Sabah is the high load of suspended solids as a result of sediment pol- lution from poor soil conservation, runoff from logging, agricultural, plantation, mining and construction activities, and also from natural erosion. Recent find- ings at the Kinabatangan river estimated soil loss at 7.8 million tons per year. Occurrence of floods is to some extent directly related to levels of sediment loads in rivers. Several river basins such as the Padas, Kinabatangan, Segama and Labuk rivers are prone to flooding during the wet season. These rivers also exhibit high turbidity even during the dry season. Chemical pollutants such as biocide residues originating from pesticides, insec- ticides, herbicides and fertilizers applied in agricultural activities are potential threats to water quality in waterways and river basins of Sabah. The Sabah Wa- ter Resources Master Plan 1994 reported that the water supply has been af- fected in Ranau by pesticides and herbicides being washed from vegetable growing areas near Kundasang. The Environmental Quality Report 1990 published by the Department of Envi- ronment reported that 12 of the 17, or 65%, of the rivers monitored in Sabah were heavily polluted with suspended solids which consisted of earth materials eroded from river channels and disturbed soil surfaces in the upstream areas. The Environmental Quality Report 1997 reported that 12 rivers in the State were polluted with NH3-N due to livestock farming and domestic waste in 1997. Six rivers were polluted with suspended solids due to mainly earthworks and land clearing activities. On BOD, there was no pollution reported in Sabah. The Environmental Quality Report 1998 reported that seven rivers in Sabah had been found to be polluted in terms of suspended solids, BOD and ammoniac nitrogen. Domestic Sewage. Municipal wastewater discharges, especially of untreated sewage, constitute an important source of pollution of inland waters in Sabah. Sewage poses a threat not only to human health, but also increases the load of nutrients in the water, which use up oxygen as they decompose. The more oxy- gen is consumed, the more will aquatic life is impaired. In certain instances, conditions may become anaerobic, resulting in the mortality of aquatic life. Re- cent studies have found that the level of coliforms found in selected rivers, es- tuaries and coasts of Sabah clearly indicated a high degree of sewage contami- nation along the coast of major towns in Sabah.